River snorkeling growing in popularity in Washington

Russ Ricketts of Leavenworth, Wash., snorkels in the Wenatchee River in Tumwater Canyon near Leavenworth. He says he snorkeled 135 days in 2012. To Ricketts and Matt Collins, also of Leavenworth, North Central Washington is a snorkeling mecca. The two men do it all year.

MIKE BONNICKSEN/Wenatchee World

Russ Ricketts of Leavenworth, Wash., snorkels in the Wenatchee River in Tumwater Canyon near Leavenworth. He says he snorkeled 135 days in 2012. To Ricketts and Matt Collins, also of Leavenworth, North Central Washington is a snorkeling mecca. The two men do it all year.

LEAVENWORTH, Wash. (AP)

To Russ Ricketts and Matt Collins, North Central Washington is a snorkeling mecca.

“It’s like there’s art under water,” said Collins. “There are old-growth Douglas fir or cedar trees that have fallen in the water and been there 40 or 50 years. Now there’s all this life that’s clung to it, insects and algae and all kinds of things.”

Said Ricketts, “You’re swimming through sandstone that’s been eroded away by the river and it forms this giant, swirling landscape.”

And then, there’s the wildlife.

“It’s like bird-watching, but I’m fish-watching, and I’m floating right past animals – I saw a deer and a cougar the last time I went – because you don’t have a profile; you’re just a face in the water.”

The two Leavenworth men do this all year. Wet suits are imperative, they say, whether it’s winter or summer, because the river temperature changes a only few degrees between seasons.

“It’s really a matter of air temperature, what you’re breathing in,” said Collins.

Collins, 42, is a fish biologist who works for the Yakama Nation. He snorkels rivers as part of his job, which is assessing the fisheries.

In August 2008, Collins went snorkeling for fun, and brought along Ricketts, 40, who works part of the year in the oil fields in Alaska. Their destination was the Wenatchee River in Tumwater Canyon.

“It was spectacular,” Ricketts said. “We saw all these fish, and you’re right in there with them.”

While Collins remained an occasional river snorkeler for fun, Ricketts became addicted. He said he snorkeled 135 days in 2012, with about 40 of those days being in the winter.

“It’s just crazy fun and good times,” he said.

You won’t find Ricketts or Collins in the Wenatchee or the Icicle rivers during spring runoff, though. The water is too fast and high.

That’s when they head to the backcountry for float time on small streams.

“The real beauty of nature is in the backwater,” Ricketts said. “That’s where the little fish are being reared. The little creeks are just cool.”

During lower-water times, the men enjoy a favorite hole in Tumwater Canyon.

“It’s a large pool above a big waterfall, and when the salmon make it to the pool, they rest there,” Collins said. “There can be 50 to 60 chinook in the pool for you to look at. It’s pretty dramatic, and then there’s the immense presence of the mountains when you come out.

“One minute, your head is in the water and you’re looking at steelhead or rainbow trout. Then you pick your head out of the water and you’re looking at the Big Dipper. It’s the grand scale of things. It kind of makes you feel humble.”

Besides fish, there are interesting items in the rivers. The men have found lots of fishing lures, old bottles and long discarded car bodies.

“Nothing is rare, and it’s not worth anything, but it’s fun to find,” Ricketts said.

Ricketts encourages people to snorkel local rivers with a buddy. And, he said, both should be good swimmers and have a serious respect for rivers and streams.

“There are obvious hazards, like drowning,” Ricketts said.

Among the potential problems are rocks, stumps, logs and dangerous hydraulics.

Russ Ricketts of Leavenworth, Wash., gets on his gear for a snorkel in the Wenatchee River in Tumwater Canyon near Leavenworth. To Ricketts and Matt Collins, also of Leavenworth, North Central Washington is a snorkeling mecca. The two men do this all year.

MIKE BONNICKSEN/Wenatchee World

Russ Ricketts of Leavenworth, Wash., gets on his gear for a snorkel in the Wenatchee River in Tumwater Canyon near Leavenworth. To Ricketts and Matt Collins, also of Leavenworth, North Central Washington is a snorkeling mecca. The two men do this all year.

Russ Ricketts of Leavenworth, Wash., climbs up on a rock in the Wenatchee River in Tumwater Canyon near Leavenworth to get a better view of the rapids ahead. “Rapids are nothing to mess around with,” said Ricketts. He’ll often scout rapids, looking for entrapments and eddies, before entering a river.

MIKE BONNICKSEN/Wenatchee World

Russ Ricketts of Leavenworth, Wash., climbs up on a rock in the Wenatchee River in Tumwater Canyon near Leavenworth to get a better view of the rapids ahead. “Rapids are nothing to mess around with,” said Ricketts. He’ll often scout rapids, looking for entrapments and eddies, before entering a river.